Lehigh welcomes former Secretary of State Madeline Albright for lecture series

View full sizeMadeline Albright will visit Lehigh University Tuesday. | Courtesy of World Economic Forum

Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright will visit Lehigh University on Tuesday as part of the Kenner Lecture Series.

Albright, who was secretary of state under President Clinton in his second term, is a native of Czechoslovakia, where she had to flee with her parents when the Nazis invaded during World War II and again when the Soviets invaded her homeland after the war.

She became a U.S. citizen while attending Wellesley College, where she graduated with honors and a degree in political science.

Albright was pivotal in American policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the Middle East during her time as secretary of state. Since leaving office, she has been a professor in Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service. In May 2012, President Obama awarded Albright the U.S. Medal of Freedom, which is the highest honor a civilian can receive.

The Lehigh community is very excited to host such a storied figure. Political science major Erin Pamucku, ’15, was one of the students chosen to participate in a question and answer session before Albright’s speech.

“It’s great because [Albright] wanted the closed question and answer session. She was the one who brought it up to the university. It is an exciting opportunity to speak to her, [and] it shows that she has a commitment to educate and inspire young people,” Pamucku said. “Being in a university setting gives us the freedom to ask questions that would not be possible in other venues.

“It shows our university’s commitment to continuing the liberal arts. We are predominantly known as an engineering and business school, but bringing in people who are prominent in the liberal arts shows that we have students here succeeding in other fields and going on to do great things.”

Frank Ogura, ’13, is also excited to have Albright come to campus.

“I think it’s great that a female leader is coming to Lehigh, especially after celebrating 40 years of women at Lehigh last year,” Ogura said. “In my opinion she was one of our best secretaries of state and her visiting Lehigh not only reflects well on the College of Arts and Sciences, but the university as a whole.”

This is not Albright’s first time visiting Lehigh, she came to campus in April 2008 to help campaign for former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Albright will speak on Tuesday at 8 p.m. in Baker Hall of Zoellner Arts Center. It is free and open to the public.